Poptart's ImagineClan Writing Challenge Entries
by inFAMOUSpoptart
Summary: These are my challenge entries for the Warriors Forum, ImagineClan. It's a soon-to-be large collection of oneshots, each a unique theme. Challenges so far: 2, Latest Challenge: "#18 Don't Let the Dreambugs Bite - Lazy Moon"
1. Challenge 27: Two Paths

This is my first writing challenge. I think it turned out very well. :D

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ImagineClan Challenge 27: Two Paths

_Paths Untraveled_

As the sun rose, so did Russetflower's determination. She had been thinking about it for an entire moon, but now, she was ready. She had deciding on taking a path that would change her life forever. She was going to ask Firestar if she could be trained in the ways of a medicine cat.

It wasn't the first choice of many clan cats. To be honest, it wasn't her first choice either. She felt that it might be the best way she could benefit her clan.

As she padded through the camp's gorse entrance, she began to rethink the whole thing. The lifestyle of a medicine cat is much different from that of a regular warrior. Would she enjoy it? She stopped her thought process right there.

This wasn't about her. This was about her clan. She knew how it felt to lose someone so dear to you. Her mate had died in a border accident just two moons ago. She didn't want to let anyone else go through what she had experienced.

Of course, the clans have dealt with death for countless seasons. Could she stop the inevitable? Not all of it, though she would do everything in her power to keep her clan mates alive, whatever the cost.

At the back of her mind, she saw her clan mates moving around the camp. It was normal clan-life at the moment. It was the time between wars, when tensions were rising. How many of them would she not see return from the next battle?

She saw her best friend, Blossomfall; drop a mouse at the fresh-kill pile. What if it was her? What could she do to help her if she was only a warrior?

"Russetflower," Brambleclaw called from a small group of warriors next to the warrior's den. "Will you go on a hunting patrol?"

A large part of her wanted to say yes and put off the talk with Firestar even further. With all her self-control she resisted the urge. She had to do this now, before she changed her mind. "Uh, maybe later?"

As soon as she said it, she realized how mouse-brained it sounded. Maybe later? As if! Medicine cats don't hunt prey.

Brambleclaw nodded, confused by Russetflower's conflicted expressions. "Alright," He meowed. He then marched off, in search of another warrior for the hunting patrol.

Russetflower just noticed that her limbs were shaking. She let out a huff of frustration. Why was this so difficult? She was just so unsure. Did she want to give up the life of a warrior in exchange for the chance to aid her clan mates? Yes.

She didn't get it. Did every medicine cat go to war with themselves over this decision? In a way, she hoped she wasn't the only one. Surely she wasn't.

Giving up the life of a warrior also meant that she could never fall in love again. Well, so be it. She didn't need love, because in clan-life that almost always leads to heartbreak or tragedy.

She swallowed her indecisiveness and trudged up to the leader's den. For a moment she almost backed out, though she forced her legs to keep moving her forward.

"Firestar?" She called into the dark den. She could barely make out the image of her leader in the most shadowy corner.

"Yes, Russetflower?" The tom answered formally. He sat up so that he may properly converse with his Thunderclan warrior.

Russetflower paused for a moment. She moved so that she was completely inside the den. No more suspense! "I want to be a medicine cat," she uttered.

Firestar looked surprised. After a few moments, he nodded thoughtfully. "I'll make arrangements." He stepped closer to sit right next to her. "I know you've been having a hard time recently."

Russetflower found a sudden interest in the floor. A small part of her mind was screaming, "What did you just do?!"

"I trust, with your experience, you'll do everything you can to prevent death." Firestar tried making eye contact, though Russetflower didn't accept it. "There is however one thing I'm worried about."

This caught the russet she-cat's attention. "What's that?" She looked into her leader's emerald green eyes.

"There will always be death and there will be nothing you can do to prevent it." He let his words sink in, before continuing. "It will never be your fault. You can't let death affect you as it has recently."

Russetflower dipped her head in understanding. She had to keep a firm mental foundation if she wanted to go through with this.

"I'll plan a ceremony for sun-high. Go get some rest." The orange pelted tom purred with satisfaction.

Russetflower shifted to a standing position. She felt stunned. There was no backing out now. She moved dreamily towards the exit of the den. As the first ray of morning sunlight hit her face, a memory was made. It felt magical. This was the beginning of her new life.

Death would come, but she would be prepared. She would fight it off until the day she herself died. It was great to get that burden off her back, because now she felt happier than she had ever been since her mate's death. He'll appreciate the things she would do for her clan from the territory of Starclan above.

What was to come now? Training. It would be difficult, but Russetflower was determined. She was determined to be the best medicine cat the clans have ever seen.


	2. 18: Don't Let the Dreambugs Bite

**A/N: Writing challenges are fun. :3 This chapter is a much different theme than the first. Hope you enjoy!**

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Imagineclan Challenge 18: Don't let the Dreambugs Bite

_Lazy Moon_

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It was any other lazy Saturday as Puddlestep sat on the couch watching television. He sat in a crack between two couch cushions, in a position similar to the way twolegs sat. He reached a paw to his right to grab some popcorn and stuff it in his maw, even though he wasn't hungry. This was bliss to him.

He loved the weekends not only because it meant rest, but because he hated his job. He worked at a packaging corporation called "PaKitty" a few miles away. It was the Dark Forest on Earth. All he did _all day long _was sit around putting boxes of cat food and kitty litter into bigger boxes. Those boxes were then put into even bigger boxes and shipped in huge boxes.

It wasn't fun. Every day as he sat there doing nothing but packing, he longed for his couch where he could sit there and do nothing but watch TV. And now, he was watching TV. _Ah, how relaxing, _he thought.

He sat there in his cool, dark, living room. The only illumination was that given off by the TV screen. His normally gray-blue fur seemed to be plain white under the unnatural lighting. The scene was overall gloomy.

His face went from contentment to frustration as his favorite TV show- Depressed Cave Enemies- ended with a "To Be Continued" text. Puddlestep started thrashing wildly, spilling his bowl of popcorn in the process. "_But I have to know if Butternut found evidence leading to solving the case of The Donut Murder!" _He practically yowled in anger. "Whoever created this show hates their viewers!"

He threw his now empty bowl of popcorn at the screen. It hit a button near the bottom-right corner of the box and flipped the channel.

Some narrator began speaking quickly on the new channel. "And now back to… The boring black and white elderly she-cat show!" The screen showed a picture of a house in a large field. A she-cat stood on the porch, looking out into the distance as if she was confined to that place and wanted to leave.

Puddlestep did not like the looks of this. He frantically began looking around the room for the remote. He eventually saw it sitting on an arm rest of the couch, three tail-lengths away. _No!_ Puddlestep screamed mentally. He was not willing to get up and go get it.

The movie opened to a scene where two characters were arguing. The she-cat from the title screen spoke up: "Out _there _is where my heart lies! You cannot keep me locked up in here while the tom of my dreams is in the town! I have to go to him, and you _have_ to understand my emotions."

The tom that she was talking to looked thoughtful, yet determined. He eventually sighed, shaking his head. "Fine, my dear daughter. You may go to him."

The she-cat let out a _mrrow_ of joy and rubbed against her father affectionately in thanks.

Puddlestep let out a hiss of disgust, still unwilling to get up from his comfortable seat.

The next scene showed the she-cat running across a field towards a nearby town to adventurous music. The narrator from before spoke up. "And thus, Rosepetalflowerdaisy's journey begins."

Puddlestep started panicking again. This was _a nightmare!_

He blinked open his eyes in fear. _Oh!_ _He was in the medicine cat's den._ He wasn't fat and lazy, either. Puddlestep saw Jayfeather and Briarlight sleeping in their respective nests closer to the entrance of the den. _What a relief. None of that was real._

He let the realization that it was all just a dream sink in. He wasn't in that gloomy room. He was in the warm and secure medicine cat's den. Soft moonlight shone in the entrance, adding to the peacefulness of the small cave. He was safe in here. No boring black and white elderly she-cat show was anywhere to be seen.

He felt he needed to walk off the bad dream and tried standing up. Not a good idea. A sharp pain shot through his leg and he flopped back into his nest. He laid there for a moment, letting the pain subside. _Windclan,_ he remembered.

Windclan had attacked earlier that day around sunhigh while he was sleeping. He normally wouldn't have been sleeping at such hours during the day, but he had been granted the rare opportunity after excessive patrolling the night before.

In the battle between Thunderclan and Windclan, Puddlestep had suffered a harsh wound to his left-rear leg. It had been inflicted by some anonymous Windclan warrior. His Clan had won, so it was worth it. …Aside from one small little detail.

Jayfeather was forcing him to spend the next moon in his den to allow the wound to heal. _Ugh._ This was going to be boring. Now that he thought about it, maybe his dream was based on the oncoming _lazy moon._

In the dream, he was a lazy cat who sat around watching TV whenever possible. He hoped that he wouldn't become that in the moon he was resting, minus the TV of course. The only reason he knew what a TV was and what a twoleg's house looked on the inside was because he used to live with one.

That's right, Puddlestep was once a kittypet. _Nothing wrong with not being Clan born, _He muttered in his head. He had lived with an old twoleg who watched shows that must've inspired the "black and white elderly she-cat show."

Maybe he was trying a bit too hard to interpret the dream. He and his clan were fine, and that was all that mattered. He shoved all thoughts from his mind and got comfortable in his nest again, drifting off into a more peaceful slumber.

But not for long. Shortly after he resumed sleeping, he had an even more horrible and terrifying dream. It was a dream that involved spiders. Huge spiders. Spiders with snapping mandibles and tiny, disturbing, black eyes that saw into the depths of your soul.


End file.
